A Christmas Like No Other
by Cole's Angel
Summary: Cole gives Phoebe a Christmas present…one that she will never forget. But to give it to her, he must reveal a secret that he has kept for over a century. ~Chapter 2 is up!~
1. Surprise Visitor

An AU: Cole gives Phoebe a Christmas present…one that she will never forget. But to give it to her, he must reveal a secret that he has kept for over a century.  
  
A/N: I've had this idea in my head for quite some time now, but I just never got around to posting the story. So, I figured I would change it a little to fit in with the upcoming Christmas season. Plus, it makes it that much more romantic. J Plus, if it does snow in San Francisco, don't flame me, I just needed to make it not snow there for my story to have meaning.  
  
Phoebe sat in the kitchen of the Halliwell manor on the first Saturday morning of December drinking her hot tea. Putting down the newspaper she was reading, she looked out the window toward the street in front of the house. How much she wanted to see snow…just once in her life, one tiny flake of snow. But living in San Francisco, winter would never truly be winter. You could never have winter without snow.  
  
She finished her tea and walked into the living room to finish decorating the tree she had started on earlier that morning. Her sisters and herself always celebrated Christmas, exchanging presents on the morning of, and giving presents to all of their friends. And Phoebe was always in charge of the tree. Not that she cared. She always had a theme for it. And this year, the entire tree was going to be in white and gold. It made it seem much more like winter.  
  
She had just finished wrapping the white ribbon trimmed in gold glitter about the tree when the doorbell rang. She put down the rest of the roll of ribbon and answered the door. She opened it to find a girl who looked to be about fifteen years old standing on the doorstep, and with her were about five suitcases from what Phoebe could see.  
  
"Um, hi, can I help you?" Phoebe asked, uncertain of what to do.  
  
"Yes, I'm looking for Cole Turner, please."  
  
"May I ask what business you have with Cole?"  
  
"Oh, believe me, it's not business. I'm his niece."  
******************************************************************************************  
"Um, Cole's not here right now," Phoebe said, surprised. Was this girl really Cole's niece? Does Cole have a sister? "Why don't you come in and I can get you something to drink while you wait."  
  
"Thank you very much. I'm Emily."  
  
"I'm Phoebe. Why don't I help you with your stuff?"  
  
"Thanks." Emily took in two of the five suitcases and as Phoebe grabbed two more went back for the last one. "So how long have you known my uncle Cole?"  
  
Phoebe walked into the kitchen as she answered, "About a year and a half now." She thought it was weird hearing Cole being called 'uncle'. "So who in your family is related to Cole?"  
  
"Oh, my mother is his sister." Phoebe walked back in with a glass of iced tea and handed it to Emily.  
  
"That's nice. Um, Cole should be back soon, but you can help me finish decorating the tree while you wait, if you want."  
  
"Sure, I'd love to. My parents never put up a Christmas tree."  
  
"Oh, why's that?"   
  
"I don't know," Emily said. "They just never did." She picked up one of the glass ornaments from the box and placed it on a branch around the center of the tree.  
  
As Phoebe picked up another ornament, she held it up to look at it. "Oh, no," she said. "This one's broken."  
  
"Let me see." Emily took the ornament from Phoebe and waved her hand over the missing piece of glass. Immediately, the piece was replaced and no one could tell that it had never been broken. "It wasn't broken, there was just a piece of black paper stuck to it," she said as she handed it back.  
  
"Oh, thank you." Phoebe placed the ornament on the tree and thought to herself, 'I could have sworn it was broken.'  
  
As Phoebe picked up another ornament, she heard the front door open. Immediately, she knew it was Cole. "That's probably Cole," she said to Emily. "I'll let him know you're here."  
  
Phoebe walked up to Cole in the front hallway leading to the door. He bent down to kiss her, but Phoebe pulled her head away. "There's someone here to see you," she said. "She's waiting in the living room. You can explain it to me later." She left him and walked up to her room.  
  
Cole walked toward the living room wondering what could have made Phoebe so upset. Once he crossed the threshold separating the living room and the hallway, he knew right away what it was. The shriek of delight from his niece didn't slow his process of realization either. 


	2. Questions Answered

"Uncle Cole!" Emily ran to Cole and hugged him. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to see you again!"  
  
"Um, Emily, we need to talk."  
  
"Sure, what's up?"  
  
"You know I love you. There's nothing that can change that, you're my niece. But I just have to make sure you won't tell Phoebe anything about you. You know, your powers and the fact that you know that she and her sisters are the Charmed Ones."  
  
"Uncle Cole, you must realize that I am finally sixteen. You don't need to worry. I won't let the love of your life realize that there is even more magic in your family."  
  
"Good," he said. He sat down on the couch with a worried look on his face.  
  
"You didn't tell her I was coming, did you?"  
  
"I was going to. You weren't supposed to show up for another week. I was going to tell her tomorrow when I got home."  
  
"And you say you love this girl? From what I can see, she doesn't know that much about you. Does she even know you're a demon? Jesus, Cole! You expect me to believe that you love her, but yet you keep secrets from her. That's not exactly my idea of true love."  
  
"Emily, you have to understand my position. She doesn't need to know about your powers, and she definitely doesn't need to know that I wasn't always a demon. That my sister hated me so much that she decided to give me this other half." Phoebe removed herself from her room and stood at the top of the stairs, listening intently. Unfortunately, she hadn't heard any of the rest of the conversation. "She doesn't need to know anything. And you won't tell her."  
  
Phoebe revealed her presence as she walked down the stairs. "Won't tell me what?" She received looks from Cole and Emily. "Assuming you were talking about me."  
  
"We were," Emily said.  
  
"Emily!" Cole scolded.  
  
"Cole was telling me what he was getting you for Christmas, and he knows what a blabber mouth I am, and he just didn't want me to tell you about it. He wants it to be a surprise."  
  
"Really? Oh, Cole, that's so sweet!" Phoebe sat on Cole's lap and kissed him sweetly on the lips. As she hugged him, Cole mouthed a thank you to his niece, showing that he was grateful for the cover-up.  
  
"Um, Phoebe, we have to talk," Cole told her when she pulled back.  
  
"Okay, we can use my room. Emily, you can finish decorating the tree if you want. Oh, and help yourself to anything in the kitchen."  
  
"Okay. Thanks."  
  
Phoebe and Cole walked up the stairs and down the hallway to Phoebe's room. "So, you wanted to talk to me?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah. It's just that…well, you deserve an explanation. One as to why Emily is here and why I didn't tell you about her or the rest of my family. I really consider Emily the only other part of my family. She's the only one worth including in my family. The reason I didn't tell you about her is because I didn't want you or your sisters asking questions about my family. And I hope that you will forgive me."  
  
"Cole, of course I forgive you. I just think that you should have told me that she was coming. That way I could have given her a room and gotten things ready. And if you would have told me that you didn't want me asking questions, I would have understood. That's the thing about being in a relationship. You understand each other."  
  
"I love you, Phoebe. And I'm not going to let anyone take that away from us."  
  
"I know you wouldn't. I love you, too."  
*************************************************************************************************  
Emily walked into her new bedroom that Phoebe had prepared for her and gasped in awe.  
  
"This is my room?" she asked in surprise.  
  
"Yes, it is," Phoebe told her. "Why? Is there something wrong with it?"  
  
"No, of course not! It's just so big! My room back at my grandmother's house was never this big!"  
  
"Oh, ok. Well, I hope you enjoy your stay with us."  
  
As Phoebe turned to walk out the door, Emily stopped her. "Phoebe."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"  
  
"Sure." Phoebe turned back around and closed the door behind her. She walked over to the bed and sat down, patting next to her, motioning for Emily to sit, too. "What's on your mind?"  
  
"Well, I know Cole told me not to talk to you about this, but I feel that I have to. Especially if he's not going to. He hasn't always been the bravest person." Then she added to herself, "Even in his demon form."  
  
"Oh, Emily, I don't want you to tell me what his Christmas present for me is. I've always loved surprises."  
  
"That's just it. That's not what we were talking about downstairs."  
  
"Then what were you talking about?"  
  
"Uncle Cole told me that he didn't want me telling you about his family. About his past. About me and the fact that I'm…different. And he didn't want you to know that I know about you. You and your sisters," Emily said.  
  
"You mean, you know that we're…"  
  
"The Charmed Ones. The reason I know this is because of my differences. I have powers. Powers like structure manipulation and I can make things appear out of thin air. I am not evil, but I do have one-quarter demon in me."  
  
"Wait," Phoebe said. "What do you mean 'structure manipulation'? Like you can change your appearance?"  
  
"Among other things. Like that vase over there." Emily motioned to a vase sitting on her dresser. She walked over to it and waved her hand in front of it. Instantly, it changed shape from a normal vase into a heart-shaped crystal. "I can also change my clothes in less than ten seconds, which is very handy sometimes."  
  
"But I don't understand. How are you what you are and Cole is what he is?"  
  
"Cole's father and mother were both human."  
  
"Wait," Phoebe interrupted. "Then how is he also Belthazor?"  
  
"This is what he didn't want me to tell you. After his father died, his mother married a white lighter. That's when they had his sister. My mother. She never liked Cole. She always thought he was spoiled and she had not been taught how to use her powers. Her father tried to bind them, but he could never figure out how. She was never told she had powers. She found out on her own one day while she was trying to escape from a bully at her school. She orbed and got away, but she kept trying to find out what other powers she had too. She decided to punish her brother for being so spoiled. So she gave him a demon form. That is the Belthazor you know. My mother married a half-demon, half-white lighter. This was never heard of before. The reason my father was like this was somewhat like what you and Cole have. But this demon fell in love with a white lighter, not a witch. Cole didn't want you to know that his sister hated him, that he knew what he was doing for over a century was wrong. Because he thought you wouldn't understand."  
  
Phoebe sat in silence, not sure of what to say.  
  
"I knew I never should have told you. I should have listened to my Uncle Cole," Emily said.  
  
"No, no," Phoebe finally spoke up. "I'm glad you did. I can't deny that I have questions…about you and Cole. But I think I should have heard this from him and not you."  
  
"That's understandable. On both counts. I've told you something that most witches, let alone normal people, ever hear. And I know this may upset you that Cole didn't tell you. But he wasn't sure how you'd react. However, it still wasn't in my business to tell you."  
  
"But I'm glad you did."  
  
There was a moment of silence before Emily spoke.  
  
"What kind of questions?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You said you had questions. What were they?"  
  
"What happened to your parents?"  
  
"They died when I was really little. They died in a car crash. All of their powers and they died in a stupid car crash."  
  
"I'm sorry," Phoebe said sympathetically. "I know how that is. My mother died when I was really little and my father…well, he's still with us, but he's too busy to see us very often. My sister, Prue once told me that we didn't have a father. It took my dad a very long time to convince me that he was indeed my father. So we grew up being taken care of by my grandmother. Who took care of you?"  
  
"My grandmother also took care of me. That's partly the reason I'm here. She's suffering from cancer and she didn't want me around to see the end result. The doctors say she's going to die soon, and she didn't want me around to see that."  
  
"Understandable. Death is…it's never easy."  
  
"Who's Prue? I mean, you just mentioned her but I thought your sisters were Paige and Piper."  
  
"Prue was my other sister. She was killed by a demon. I partly sometimes think it was my fault. I went down to the underworld to save Cole, and I turned myself over to the Source. He said that if I crossed over, he would save my sister's life by turning back time. He did, but we didn't get back up here in time to save her. We tried…oh, we tried so hard. But nothing would bring her back."  
  
"I'm sorry. I don't know what it's like to lose a sister. I'm an only child."  
  
"Well, we're dealing…barely."  
  
"I guess you're going to talk to Uncle Cole about this now, aren't you?"  
  
"Well, he does have a little bit of explaining to do," Phoebe said, "but I won't do it right away. He has enough to deal with tonight. Come on, we'll go downstairs and I'll cook dinner. But I'm not guaranteeing that it will be edible."  
  
"Ok," Emily said with a laugh. 


End file.
